PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania men's soccer team closed out its four-game home swing on Tuesday night, dominating Villanova 3-0 at Rhodes Field.
 
Oliver Pratt scored the game-winner for Penn in the first minute of action, and was accompanied by a brace from Romeo Dahlen to lift the Red and Blue to a 3-0 win and 3-2-2 overall record.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*On the defensive end of the field, Phillip Falcon III tied his career-high in saves, stopping all five shots faced.
 
*The momentum of the game stayed in Penn's favor for most of the 90 minutes as the offense outshot Villanova 25-9 with 13 shots on goal.
 
*Erickson Sakalosky dished out a career-high pair of goals in the victory.
 
*Patrick Cayelli accounted for five of the Red and Blue's shots in contest with four registering on goal.
 
*Phil Pak made his collegiate debut in the battle.
 
How It Happened
The Quakers came out of the gate hot as senior Pratt netted in a dish from senior Cayelli to put Penn early. The Red and Blue's offense continued to apply pressure as Cayelli attempted three shots on Sebastian Cutler-DeJesus between the tenth and 18th minutes that the keeper had to work to save.
 
Senior Sakalosky created some motion in the 23rd minute, stealing the ball from a Wildcat defender and passing the ball up to sophomore Dahlen, who scored his third goal of the year to push the lead to 2-0.
 
Penn continued to dominate in the box, as Connor Dawson, Aiden Frick, and Owen Sullivan all slammed the ball at Cutler-DeJesus between the 30th and 31st minute to keep the goalie busy. Villanova closed out the half with a free kick attempt off a foul on Malachi Neal, but Marcello Mazzola kicked the ball way too high before it could do any damage.
 
The Wildcats came out of the break with a statement to make as Joseph Oladele rocketed the ball from outside the box right at Falcon, who scooped it up to record his first save of the game in the 51st minute. Directly after the save, the Quakers went striking down the field, which allowed sophomore Michael Howard to nearly sneak one past Cutler De-Jesus, but the junior dove to make the save.
 
Villanova continued to try to make some noise eight minutes later, attempting two straight shots at Falcon, but the junior keeper stood on his head to hold the score at 2-0. Not even five minutes later, Oladele slammed another one at Falcon that was pushed away.
 
Though the Wildcats had chances to get on the board, it was ultimately negated as forward Dahlen put the nail in the coffin with his second goal of the night in the 81st minute to push the score to its final tally of 3-0.
 
Up Next
The Quakers (3-2-2, 0-0 Ivy League) open Ivy League action on Sunday, Sept. 28, heading to the Big Apple for a 1 p.m. matchup with Columbia.